The Virginia Coast Reserve is a biosphere reserve created by The Nature Conservancy in the early 1970s. It consists of 14 barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of the Virginia portion of the Delmarva Peninsula, including Parramore Island, Hog Island, Virginia, Smith Island, Virginia, Assawoman Island, and Metompkin Island. These barrier islands play an important role in sheltering the mainland portions of the Eastern Shore of Virginia from the impact of coastal storms and are important for breeding and migrating beach nesting and colonial waterbirds, including Piping Plovers. It also serves as the research location for the Virginia Coast Reserve Long-Term Ecological Research (VCR/LTER) project.
The reserve was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1979.
Famous quotes containing the words coast and/or reserve:
“How happy is the sailor’s life,
From coast to coast to roam;
In every port he finds a wife,
In every land a home.”
—Isaac Bickerstaffe (c. 1735–1812)
“Common experience is the gold reserve which confers an exchange value on the currency which words are; without this reserve of shared experiences, all our pronouncements are cheques drawn on insufficient funds.”
—René Daumal (1908–1944)